A new paper published in Quaternary Science Reviews reconstructs the size of four glaciers in Norway over the past 10,000 years and shows all four were considerably smaller than the present during the Holocene Climate Optimum between ∼8000 and 5500 years ago, as well as during the Roman and Egyptian warming periods 2000-3000 years ago. The paper finds the Little Ice Age [LIA] was the coldest period with the largest glacier extent of the past 10,000 years. Note: The estimated cooling during the LIA was 1.5 °C, but the globe has only recovered 0.7°C since the end of the LIA in ~1850.

For perspective, the amount of water used in all of the hydraulic fracturing jobs in California last year was about the same amount of water that the state's golf courses consumed in half a day. [Via DB]